At least 22 young people have been found dead at a nightclub in the South African city of East London, police said.
The bodies will be transported to state funeral homes where relatives are expected to help identify the victims, said Siyanda Manana, a spokeswoman for the Eastern Cape provincial health department.
“We will immediately embark on the autopsies so we can find out the probable cause of death,” Manana said as forensic staff continued to work at the cordoned-off location of the Enyobeni tavern.
“We’re talking about 22 bodies right now,” Manana added.
Earlier, Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said police were alerted by members of the public about the incident in Scenery Park, about two miles from the city center.
“The circumstances in which they died are under investigation,” Kinana said, adding that it was too early to determine the cause of death of young adults between the ages of 18 and 20.
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